S’pore youth can rent co-living rooms with 30% discount under new independent living initiative
Christine Tan
The Straits Times
July 25, 2026
Young Singaporeans who want to live independently, including singles and couples waiting for Build-To-Order flats, can rent discounted rooms across three co-living properties from July 25.
More than 100 rooms will be up for rent at 1925 Quarters in Jalan Besar, Coliwoo Boon Lay and Coliwoo Lutheran in Bukit Timah under a new independent living initiative.
Prices start at $1,800 a month per room, about 30 per cent below the usual rates. Options include twin and queen rooms.
Applications are on a first-come, first-served basis. The scheme is open to Singaporeans aged 21 to 35.
It is part of the SG Youth Plan, a five-year blueprint announced by the National Youth Council (NYC) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) on July 25, comprising more than 20 initiatives to help young Singaporeans in areas such as careers, well-being and relationships.
NYC and MCCY said the initiative is meant to address young people’s desire to live independently. Having a place of their own has consistently ranked among their top life goals, according to the National Youth Survey in 2025.
The initiative also aims to foster connections among youth, whose social circles are shrinking. The same survey found that 8 per cent of respondents in 2025 said they had no close friends, double the 4 per cent recorded in 2013.
Coliwoo is offering 70 rooms at its Boon Lay property with monthly rents starting at $1,950, and 30 rooms at Lutheran from $2,000, excluding utility bills. Up to a quarter of its rooms will be set aside for the initiative.
Coliwoo founder Kelvin Lim said the scheme was a meaningful way to support young people in Singapore while helping to reduce the company’s typical vacancy rate of 5 per cent.
The company and the other private operator, Eco-Energy, will absorb the subsidies under the scheme, which Lim said would cost Coliwoo about $600,000 a year.
Offering the discounts would not hurt the company, Lim said in a media interview at Coliwoo Boon Lay on July 23, adding that it viewed the programme as a healthy one that supports youth in Singapore.
The rooms’ furnishings fall somewhere between those of a university hall and a hotel room. White twin or queen beds sit next to birch-coloured tables and shelves, and a TV is mounted in a corner. Each room comes with an en-suite bathroom.
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Currently, about 10 per cent of Coliwoo’s rooms are occupied by young Singaporeans, a proportion that has held steady over the years. Its other tenants include overseas students and expatriates.
Lim expects the initiative to attract young people who want to live independently of their parents or try cohabiting with their partners.
Singles may even find their life partners, he said, noting that many former tenants met at Coliwoo’s properties and eventually got married.
At Coliwoo Boon Lay, tenants can mingle in shared spaces such as the kitchen, lounge and gym. Lim said the company organises social activities like game nights, wine appreciation and hikes.
Through these events, they get to know each other, and sometimes sparks do fly, Lim said.
“We have requests from (former) tenants from time to time saying, ‘I would like to do a proposal to my girlfriend at this place because I (knew) her here’,” he added.
Interested applicants can sign up via https://go.gov.sg/sgypindependentliving26
The rooms can be rented individually or shared with a roommate. Information collected, such as applicants’ race, religion and income level, will not be used as selection criteria, NYC said.
This development comes amid pressing housing issues faced by young Singaporeans, including strong competition for BTO flats among singles.
However, the Government said the initiative is not meant to address such challenges, emphasising instead that it is a private sector effort to support young people’s independence.
New ‘third spaces’
MCCY and NYC will also set up 12 new “third spaces” across Singapore by the end of 2026. These are places outside school and work that encourage social interaction among youth.
Examples include the Circle @ Nee Soon Central Community Club, Hub with a Heart @ Serangoon, and Camping Ground, an open space at *SCAPE.
About 20,000 social, hobby and interest-based opportunities across the arts, sports and culture will also be available annually by 2030 to encourage curiosity and social interaction among young people.
They can sign up for these opportunities via the Discover portal, a one-stop site for initiatives under the SG Youth Plan.
There will also be support to strengthen family ties, with MCCY, NYC and the Ministry of Social and Family Development developing programmes to help students foster family relationships, including by improving communication skills between youth and their parents.
By 2030, up to 50,000 young people are expected to benefit from these family relationship programmes.
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